Danish Crown shows good results despite tough market

In the past financial year, Danish Crown posted revenue of USD 9,7 billion, which is on a par with the previous financial year. The operating profit was USD 2.49 million, slightly below last year’s profit of USD 2,52 million.

The Board of Directors of Danish Crown has recommended supplementary payments to the company's owners of USD 1.12/kg for slaughter pigs, USD 1.00/kg for sows and USD 1.75/kg for calves and cattle. In total, USD 1,521 million will be disbursed to the owners.

"The past year has been very challenging due to the situation in Russia, and it is having an impact on our owners. For the slaughter pig producers, the year started with high hopes for reasonable earnings. However, the situation in Russia has meant a dramatic fall in the quotation in the course of the year, which is having extreme financial repercussions for farmers," says Chairman of Danish Crown's Board of Directors Erik Bredholt, adding: "Despite the considerable challenges thrown up by Russia's ban on first pork and then basically all EU foods, we have maintained earnings in the group. At the same time, we have successfully kept costs under control, so I think we should be satisfied with the results."

Internationally, a significant fall in the production of pork in the US resulting from a deadly virus among weaners has contributed to shifting the balance in basically all markets.

"When global markets are affected to this extent, it increases the risk of being wrong-footed. I therefore see the results for the year as confirmation of the strength of the Danish Crown Group's business model with the role it plays in large parts of the value chain and its significant geographical spread," says Danish Crown Group CEO Kjeld Johannesen.

At the same time, he emphasises that earnings from the Danish slaughterhouse activities are still unsatisfactory, and that the robust results can be ascribed to the group's international structure.